The Invisible Man - Summary

On a cold wintry day, a stranger came through the snowfall carrying a black portmanteau in his hand and put up at the inn, 'Coach & Horses'. The stranger was wrapped from head to foot and no one could see his face. Mrs. Hall, the owner of the inn thought that the stranger had either met with an accident or had an operation on the face. His bags and baggage contained only bottles and three note books. The stranger kept to himself in his room and conducted experiments. He wanted to be alone and undisturbed as he hated being disturbed while at work his rude and strange behaviour made him unpopular with the villagers and they suspected him to be a criminal. There was a theft in the house of Buntings at a time when the stranger was not in his room. Mrs. and Mr. Hall went inside his empty room and were surprised to see the bed sheets dancing. The terrified owners chased him out of the inn with the help of Mr. Jaffers, the village constable.

Griffin then met Mr. Marvel a local tramp to whom he confessed that he was invisible. He threatened to kill him if he betrayed. He returned to lping with Mr. Marvel to take his three note books and other belongings. Since he had no clothes on, he could not be seen by anybody.

After travelling a long distance, they came to Burdock where Mr. Marvel tried to give him a slip by hiding in the inn, 'Jolly Cricketers'. By this time, the story of the Invisible Man was in the newspaper and the whole country knew about it. A scuffle ensued in the inn and the Invisible Man was hurt. Unknowingly, an injured and bleeding Invisible Man took shelter in the house of Dr. Kemp, who happened to be his associate in college.

Griffin told his story to Dr. Kemp. Being a student of medicine, he was suddenly attracted towards topics and function of light. He invented a chemical by which he made a piece of wool invisible. He then tried it on a cat and then on himself. He did not inform anyone about his invention as he feared that somebody else would take the credit of his invention. At first, he thought only of the advantages of being invisible but gradually he found the disadvantages too. He needed food, clothing and shelter as the weather 199 Class XII - English was changing and snow would settle on his body. He came to lping to do research and find out the reverse process which he had not invented. His body was like a thin sheet of glass. The food that he ate could be seen going down his throat until it was digested. Only the dogs could sense him. He wanted his three note books from Mr. Marvel. He told Dr. Kemp that together they could unleash the Reign of Terror in that small town.

 Dr. Kemp did not keep his promise to maintain secrecy. He had informed Colonel Adye about the presence of the Invisible Man in his house. Seeing the police, Griffin ran out of house calling Kemp a traitor. A siege was laid in the whole town of Burdock to catch the Invisible Man under the guidance of Dr. Kemp. The Invisible Man attacked the house of Dr. Kemp as he had realized that Dr. Kemp had betrayed him.

 In the final chase, the Invisible Man was caught by the road workers the help of Dr. Kemp and beaten to death. After death, Griffin's body became visible. Mr. Marvel opened an inn with the money that Griffin had kept with him and named it 'The Invisible Man'. He also preserved the note books from Dr. Kemp and the outside world as he hoped that this would fetch him fortune someday